Friday, October 31, 2008

Well it's the end of the working week and the end of Blogtoberfest..........

I've finished Nico's brithday present. I made an appliqued t-shirt using the fabulous cowboy fabric from Stacey, and a pair of jeans (recycled from an old pair of Mr CP's jeans).

The cowboy t-shirt also matches the cords that I whipped up earlier in the week. Both the cords and the jeans were made using the pattern that I won from Silly Gilly. Can you tell that I love that pattern much?

I'm actually a bit sad that Blogtoberfest has to end....it's been so much fun! I've been introduced to so many new blogs (which hasn't helped my procrastination problems) but has definitely kept me entertained for hours on end. I could tell exactly how much time I'd been using and how many blogs I'd been reading when my internet virtually slowed to a halt with about 7 days until the end of month...aaaagggghhh! Surely 5 Gb per month is enough for a blogger? Anyhow, I'm hoping it will reset very early tomorrow morning.

Fantastic Blogtoberfest Fact:

There have been 49 giveaways listed on my sidebar. At least 4 giveaways were newly listed today so make sure you head on over and visit them all to enter.

Thankyou so much to Big Cat for hosting such a wonderful event....she's an ideas woman you know... you just wouldn't believe how many fantastic ideas she still has to come!Thankyou to everyone who played along this month. Thankyou to everyone who hosted a giveaway. Thankyou to everyone who left a comment. I hope everyone had the chance to make some new bloggy friends.

On the 31st January 2009, I will be heading down to Lancefield for a lovely crafty day at Sewjourn. I've been hoping and wishing for this one all week long..... and I even checked the Sewjourn blog about 5 times today to see whether the winners had been drawn (am I pathetic?).

Lo and behold, I checked after dinner and found that I was one of the winners...yippee!

Sometimes, even though some really crappy things have happened lately, I really am the luckiest blog girl in the world.

Wow, I can't believe we've reached the end of October already.... it's been an action packed crafty and busy month and I've just made it in time for Just a Minute.

Reading:I had a hospital appointment yesterday and so I started reading 'No I don't want to join a bookclub' by Virginia Ironside. I'm about three quarters through so far and it's a great read.

Watching:Project Runway US....I'm actually missing the Aussie version

Eating:I can blame Liesl from Hoppo Bumpo for my new addiction to Green and Blacks chocolate. I had a spearmint Magnum ice cream lastnight too...delicious. Of course, there has also been lots of cake and vanilla slice over the month too. I'm also slowly adapting to cooking meals for one and trying to reduce the amount of food that I waste.

Making:Not much again this month.... there's been way too much time spent packing up my sewing and crafty mess every time someone wants to look at the house. I'm dreaming of a time when I can spread out my mess and just leave it!I have managed to make a few items for The CurlyPops Shop and some birthday pressies for my nephew.

Socialising:It's been a great month for lots of crafty socialising with fantastic crafty girls at various venues. Thankyou all you crafty girls for making it a great month!

If you'd like to play along, head on over and visit Jen to join in....

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Yesterday Big Cat and I decided to hit the northern suburbs for a spot of op-shopping (at least I think it was the northern suburbs....I'm quite clueless when it comes to geography).We consulted I Op Therefore I Am and made a list of all the op shops in Thornbury, Reservoir and Preston and then we jumped into the Hyundai with my nonna trolley and off we went.

I found some lovely pillowcases.....

.....a cool butter dish

..... a very cool Savoury Tray with Party Forks just in case I want to serve some hors d'oevres or shrimps at my next party....

This large mens Rip Curl shirt which I am going to chop up to make some summer shorts for my nephews.....

We stopped for a lunch break halfway through the day and had some lovely lebanese pizza which I had never tried before, and then we had yummy cupcakes with icing and sprinkles for afternoon tea.

After lunch, I found my pi'ece de resistance for the day...

I spied this funny little box on the shelf at one of the oppies.

When I opened it up, it had three little drawers....

It's an old Hanimex slide box. I have no idea what I'm going to use it for, but at $4, it was a bargain!I also bought some books for my nephews but they were already gifted before I had the chance to take some photos.

It's so much more fun to op-shop with friends but next time I think I need to hook up the trailer to the Hyundai before I leave...then we don't have to leave anything behind...he he he

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

......And the random number generator says that 13 really is the luckiest number, and it belongs to Trashalou.

It was a very close call but between the hanging combinations of number 2 and number 5, but number 2 was the most popular by a whisker.

Trash, if you could send me an email and let me know where you would like me to send it (your mum might like some more heart palpitations), I should be able to pop it in the post tomorrow or Friday. Thankyou so much to everyone who entered...... only 2 Blogtoberfesting days to go!

My nephew Nico is having his first birthday party this weekend so I'm making him some clothes. I was planning to be further along with the birthday production line than this, but I had another lot of prospective buyers come through the house at short notice lastnight so it was a mad scamble to clean up all of the crafty mess that I had strewn all over the kitchen again (and make the bed, and pick up the dirty washing from the floor, and bring in the fabric that was drying on the pool fence)!

While my roast lamb dinner was in the oven lastnight, I sat on the couch and did some crazy stitching on the felt star. I had already used vliesofix to set the star in place so the stitching is really just for a bit of added effect.

I almost forgot to mention, that these pants were made from a $1 mens corduroy shirt from the oppy. I cut the two front panels from the back of the shirt, and the two back panels from the front of the shirt. This photo is the back of the pants which have the front pocket from the shirt. I just layed the pattern piece in the correct place so that the pocket stayed in tact. I think it turned out pretty cute!

For much more On My Desk action, head on over to visit Kirsty and check out some more desky action shots.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Today I've decided to show memories from Nana's house and Grandma's house.

This one is my older sister and I on Nana's balcony in Coragulac in about 1976. I must have been two years old and R would have been four.

This one is Nana's balcony again (notice she still has the same outdoor setting and planter). This must have been 1980 (2 extra siblings by this time).R is wearing a dress up costume for school that my nana made for her.

This one is at Grandma's house...it must have been about 1981 (I'm the one with no front teeth wearing socks and sandals). I do believe that my brother is wearing a Mr Greedy bib...now that's funny!

More nana stuff tomorrow...... I've used up my internet limit for the month so my blogging and reading and commenting is grinding down to an extremely slow speed. I probably won't be leaving many comments over the next few days but I will definitely still be reading!

Lastnight was a fun night of badgemaking at the Brown Owls clubhouse. Gemma was the badge machine protector and queen, which was lucky because I just couldn't remember the correct sequence for all the little badgey bits and pieces!

Special guest star Anna Laura showed us how to make these cute little stuffed felt badges.

I borrowed Steph's Lolcats book because it just makes me laugh out loud....and Steph also bought along a themed pressie just for me.... a Smash Hits INXS badge from the 80's...how's that for cool!

I also started a cute little house badge that Pip had created but didn't get time to finish it just yet. I might keep stitching that one on the couch tonight.

Monday, October 27, 2008

When my nana died a few years back, I received her electric recliner chair. It lives in my loungeroom, in front of the bookcase. The original fabric is not very attractive, so I have it covered with a nice throw rug that I found at the oppy years ago.

When you take the throw rug away, you can see the colour that nana used in her hair.... it's somewhere between blue and purple. I think that's the most special thing about the chair.....

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Way back in August, I brought home these collaged canvas backgrounds that Cathy had made, with the intention of making my own collage for the wall......and as per usual, with my procrastinating ways...they've been sitting in my craft cupboard ever since!

Yesterday was the perfect opportunity to take them for a drive all the way back to where they originated to finally be finished....

I didn't quite finish them yesterday, so today I gave them a quick coat of acrylic varnish and glued some purple ribbon around the edges so that now they're ready to be hung.

Now onto the very important part of the post....a giveaway!

The prize will include a 15cm x 15cm piece of lino, a 5 inch x 5 inch artists canvas, and some patterned papers so that you can make your own mini collage.

Once I sell my house and find myself a new house, I'm going to be hanging these in a prominent position in the living room so I need to have the perfect combination....

To win, all you need to do is leave me a comment and tell me whether you like from left to right - Number 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.

I will draw a winner next Wednesday night (29th Oct) Melbourne time....

This weeks theme is from Victoria over at Earl and Cookie and it's a very tricky one....

I've been racking my brain all morning trying to think of something interesting.

Anyone that knows me also knows that I have an absolute hatred of eating anything green and leafy...but for some weird reason, I actually like baby spinach. I think the first time I tried it was when it was part of the filling in a lamb and pinenut burger. I was suprised that I didn't have to spit it out! Weird but true.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

I had such a lovely crafty day out today...the time absolutely flew past and before we knew it, we'd cut and printed and painted and glued and eaten lots of yummy food, and then it was time to pack up and make our way home......

I managed to finish two small lino cuts..... the first with some flowers and leaves (of which I've completely forgotten to take a photo) and the second is this star print. I clearly need to work on the amount of paint I'm putting on the print!

Thess are Serena's mushroom and bunny prints (using ezycarve printing blocks)....they didn't work so well with paint but they're fabulous with ink.... hopefully she will have time to post some photos tomorrow.

There was a bit of doiley painting action happening..... and Cathy made some absolutely divine collages (no photos yet...not quite finished) and another lovely flower lino print and a couple of gorgeous mini collages by Serena...

....potato print on calico by Juddie (not a great photo but this looks fab in real life). I missed getting a photo of Juddie's print cuts...she made a beautiful christmas bauble using ezycarve printing blocks...

We had the most amazing home made pizza for lunch...yum!

This is a sneaky peek of my work in progress collages. I'm going to finish them off tomorrow.

Thankyou so much Cathy for letting us bombard you and your house with all of our crafty mess...and thanks to Ms L for putting up with us too (he he he)!

Blue skies and sunshine..... checkLino.... checkLino Cutters.... still need to findCanvasses.... checkBanana Muffins.... checkPaint.... checkPaper/Wallpaper..... still need to findScissors.... checkVarnish.... checkBox of op shop gold.... checkSmencil.... checkPetrol..... get some on the wayHouse sparkling for todays inspection..... well sort of check

Friday, October 24, 2008

Steph is starting up a Morsbags Pod in Melbourne. The idea is basically to get together and sew recycled shopping bags and give them out to try to reduce the use of plastic bags.You can click on the picture above and check out the details or head over to visit this post, or join up on Facebook.

What's not to love about Love Fridays today?It's going to be a lovely sunny 25 degrees, I've made banana cupcakes for tomorrows big day out, and now I'm off to have to my hair cut and coloured......say goodbye to those pesky greys!